And the value of a close-combat Soul Tool was far greater than that of an ordinary Soul Tool of the same rank.
How could such a precious Soul Tool have ended up with that woman?
"Hmph. That was the betrothal token your good father gave that woman. I always knew about it, actually. I just never interfered, leaving her the choice."
Xu Feiyan gave a cold laugh and propped her chin on one hand. A trace of resentment and coldness lingered on her pretty face. "If one day she came to her senses, she could take this Level Six close-combat Soul Tool, walk out of the Duke's Mansion, and elope with her precious son."
"She could sell this Level Six close-combat Soul Tool and use the money to give herself and her son a good life. What a pity, what a pity..."
Xu Feiyan shook her head. The smile on her face seemed to mock that woman, and perhaps herself as well.
"Go demand that woman hand over the Level Six Soul Tool she's been hiding. She definitely won't hand it over. Then you'll have a reason to give her a taste of what's coming..."
Listening to his mother's plan, Dai Huabin was first taken aback, then his gaze filled with reverence and delight.
"Good, good, good. Mother is truly wise. This way, that little bastard will be in for a world of trouble!"
"Hmph, you thief. You've argued and made excuses for ages, but now the stolen goods have been found. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Dai Huabin held a dagger as white and lustrous as jade, clearly an extremely precious object. His face wore a cold sneer, while Huo Yun'er's expression was first blank, then turned to one of pure madness.
"Give it back! Give it back!"
Huo Yun'er charged forward like a madwoman to snatch it away, but Dai Huabin kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying far across the room.
Although Huo Yun'er was an adult and Dai Huabin only an eleven-year-old boy, he was already much bigger than her. Not to mention, Dai Huabin was already a two-ring Soul Grandmaster, while Huo Yun'er was just an ordinary person!
"Dai Huabin, you deserve to die!"
At that moment, an enraged roar erupted from the crowd nearby. A boy could no longer hold back. Fury blazed in his Spirit Eyes as the three-eyed White Tiger possessed him, and he pounced on Dai Huabin!
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Little Yuhao landed punch after punch on his enemy. He had completely lost control of himself and couldn't hear the voices around him.
Even when Huo Yun'er came to her senses and frantically begged her son to stop, Little Yuhao still ignored her!
"Stop! Dai Yuhao, have you gone mad?"
Only at the very last moment did the Duchess's icy voice ring out. A beam of Star Chain Light bound Yuhao, his eyes bloodshot, and hurled him aside. Huo Yun'er painfully closed her eyes.
"Dai Yuhao is vicious by nature. He beat his own brother, nearly crippling him. With such a brutal disposition, turning against his own flesh and blood, I, as his teacher, cannot escape responsibility!"
In the family tribunal, the Duchess sat in the seat of honor, her expression seemingly filled with self-reproach.
"Indeed. This Huo Yuhao is so vicious at such a young age. If he keeps cultivating like this, he'll become a real menace! With a twisted disposition, the greater his strength, the greater the danger he poses. What if he becomes an Evil Soul Master? Wouldn't he threaten all living things?"
One of the family elders swept his hand through the air and said coldly.
"Hmph, he was the one who bullied my mother first!"
With his hands bound and forced to kneel on the icy floor, Yuhao glared coldly and spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Silence! Even at a time like this, you're still so stubborn and incorrigible. You can't teach someone who refuses to learn!"
Another family elder stepped forward. As if he were furious at Yuhao for failing to live up to his expectations, he pointed at him, his finger trembling slightly, and scolded him.
"Man, the people in the White Tiger Duke Mansion are incredible actors! They're wasting their talents here. They should all be making Soul Tool movies in the Sun Moon Empire!"
Beyond the Sky Screen, countless sects across the Douluo Continent were voicing the same sentiment.
Anyone who wasn't an idiot could see by now that almost everyone in the White Tiger Duke Mansion had become the Duchess's ally!
And the familiar old faces who had once opposed the Duchess, or remained neutral, were appearing less and less on the Sky Screen! The Duchess must have long since found all kinds of excuses to transfer them somewhere else.
In a situation like this, anyone could see that Huo Yuhao was in for a rough time!
"What a foolish move! He held back for so long, only to fall short at the very end..."
"But who could keep holding back in a situation like that? You can only blame the Duchess for being too cunning."
"No... That woman was too greedy. Sigh, what good is holding on to a Level Six Soul Tool if she can't hold on to the White Tiger Duke's heart?"
All sorts of arguments played out across the entire continent. Meanwhile, Dai Hao, the White Tiger Duke at the heart of the debate, sat in his tent with a stormy expression.
"Those two women—neither of them ever let me have a moment's peace!"
Of course, he could see what Huo Yun'er was thinking. The reason he hadn't gone back for so long was that he had tacitly approved of the Duchess's handling of the family.
He wasn't really an idiot. If he kept away from the Duke's Mansion for so long and left everything unattended, how could he not have guessed what kind of treatment Huo Yun'er would receive there?
But what he and Huo Yun'er had shared was only a moment of passion. Put simply, once he'd had his fill, she'd lost her appeal! If she knew what was good for her, she'd take the gift he had given her and get out, then find somewhere to live on her own.
As for entering the White Tiger Duke Mansion for real, she could forget about it! And hoping her son would win her a place through his status? Dream on!
His proper wife was the younger sister of the current Star Luo Emperor. Even if he were to take a concubine, she would have to be the daughter of one of the Empire's most powerful nobles or a direct descendant of some Soul Master sect.
With Huo Yun'er's lowly origins, how could she possibly enter the Dai Family?
Even the ancestor Dai Mubai would have thrown her right out!
Back then, the ancestor Mu Bai had played around with so many beautiful young women and twins. If he'd married them all, what a spectacle that would have been! He'd have become the laughingstock of the world!
But that was only true as long as Huo Yun'er had no children, or her child had ordinary talent.
Now things were different! Dai Yuhao's talent was clearly astonishing. If he were trained well, he would almost certainly become a Super Douluo in the future. It might even be possible for him to reach the threshold of a Limit Douluo.
If Dai Yuhao really became a Limit Douluo, would the White Tiger Clan still need to fear the mere Xu Clan? They wouldn't even have to say a word. The Star Crown Clan would step down and willingly return the throne to the Dai Family!
The hateful thing was that, within the Sky Screen, he was still being kept in the dark, while the Duchess wielded absolute power and snuffed out the Dai Family's hopes for the future. Meanwhile, his counterpart in the Sky Screen was still at the front, foolishly handling military affairs, completely unaware!